Spicy Dahl and Jacket Potato with McCain

February 17, 2017

You won’t see many recipes on my blog, despite the fact I’m a keen cook I find food styling quite stressful and it isn’t often I’ll share what we are eating. However, when McCain got in touch and asked me to create a topping for their frozen ready baked jacket potatoes I wanted to take on the challenge.

I hadn’t actually tried McCain’s jacket potatoes before now. I’d spotted them plenty of times on the supermarket shelves and in all honesty I was a little cynical about how good they could actually be. A frozen jacket potato?! Well, I have to admit that they have won me over – with McCain Ready Baked Jackets you get the crispy outside and fluffy inside that you’d usually get from oven cooking but you just pop them in the microwave and they are ready to go in five minutes! They are so much nicer than my usual baked potatoes done in the microwave. It’s been a revelation for me, my husband says I’m a frozen food snob but I’m starting to buy a lot of our vegetables and fruit frozen now. It makes such a massive difference to always have something in the freezer and to not have to worry about it going off. I hate wasting food and potatoes are always what I end up throwing away. These frozen jackets are perfect for a quick, warm lunch for the twins and I love that they taste just like an oven baked potato without me having to cook them for an hour.

For a tasty topping I had a think about what we usually eat with our jacket potatoes and often it is leftovers from another meal. It’s quick and easy for us as I just heat it up while the potato is cooking. If you’re short on time, McCain have some easy and delicious topping ideas over on their #LunchIn5 YouTube channel which can be prepared in just 5 mins – all whilst your McCain Ready Baked Jacket cooks in the microwave! This time though, I decided to go for a spicy lentil and chickpea dahl. I love dahl, you can put lots of good stuff in it and it’s proper comfort food. We aren’t totally vegetarian but we do eat mostly veggie meals as they are always packed full of good stuff. Lentils and chickpeas are so good for you as they are high in protein and fibre but low in salt and sugars. I always have them in my cupboard as they have a long shelf life and they’re so easy to add to our meals.

I’ve kind of adapted my favourite curry recipe for this and added coconut milk which makes it creamy. It has a spicy kick which I love but leave out the red chili if you don’t like it too hot. I always find the dahl tastes better left for a day – I cook mine the night before I want to eat it. It can be kept in the fridge for a few days and freezes well, all ready to warm up and spoon over your jacket potato. This is lovely and warming while it’s still cold out and good for you too!

Spicy Chickpea & Lentil Dahl with Jacket Potato

2017-02-15 12:48:48

Serves 4

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

50 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

50 min

Ingredients

4 McCain Jacket Potatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 red chili, sliced (optional)

1 tsp ginger paste

2 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

400 ml vegetable stock

100g red lentils

400ml can of coconut milk

400g can of chickpeas

salt and pepper

spring onions and coriander to serve (optional)

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Instructions

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion, cook on a low heat for 10 minutes until softened.

Add the garlic, chili, ginger, curry powder, tomato puree and tomatoes and cook on a medium heat for 2 minutes.

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14 Comments

I LOVE Dahl but I have never thought to have it with a Jacket Potato. Sounds like the perfect combo and a great satisfying Winter meal. I am going to have to try these McCain frozen spuds now, they sound ideal to have in the freezer for emergency meals too

Ooh I would never think to put Dahl on top of a jacket potato but we always have some kind of leftover curry as my mum is forever packing us some. I keep seeing these jackets in the shop freezers but haven’t braved trying them yet!

This is my idea of lunch heaven! Our cupboard always has loads of chickpeas in, but I’d always have them with rice, rather than a potato. I am so cynical about frozen potatoes, and I am the same as you. A keen cook, but styling is stressful, and I always think people will find it weird that I’m sharing what I eat…but people obviously are…because I am!!! x

I have to admit I’ve been converted to the ways of the frozen potato, makes it so easy for me to make a warm lunch for the twins! I can get a bit bored of rice so this makes a nice change – your food photos always look good when I’ve seen them…I suspect a lot of bloggers are put of blogging about food for the same reasons. Also, I usually eat the food before I take the photo 😉 xx

We use the McCain frozen potatoes about once a week as they are so handy for quick midweek teas. Plus I can never make a decent jacket potato (why do they always taste so much nicer when somebody else makes them). I would never think of putting dahl as a filling but this looks delicious and so easy to make. And your food styling is gorgeous Hayley x

This looks lovely Hayley, I eat these baked potatoes a lot for lunch so I’ll definitely try this topping sometime. I don’t cook many things in the microwave but I agree with you that microwave baked potatoes taste much better than the ones done in the oven – at least the way I make them anyway! By the way you’ve nothing to worry about with your food styling, I think it looks fab! I loved the photo you posted of your little cookies on Instagram the other week! x